Set to perform at an upcoming concert, AR Rahman on how defining the genre has been in his life Using Sufi music to heal Sonia Lulla sonia. lulla@ mid- day. com When Fiza ( 2000) director Khalid Mohamed approached AR Rahman for a u201c Muqabla- typeu201d of song for the film, Rahman was in search of something different. Nudging him to reveal details of the other tracks in the Hrithik Roshan starrer, Rahman remembers Mohamed saying, u201c I have a qawwali, but Iu2019m giving that to Khayyam.u201d u201c I said, no, I want that. I grabbed that opportunity,u201d laughs Rahman, recalling one among his early Sufi tracks in Bollywood, Piya Haji Ali, which subsequently led to songs like Khwaja mere khwaja and Maula.

The upcoming Ekam Satt u2014 Unity Concert: The 50th Symphony, will have Rahman employ Sufi music to enable viewers to u201c experience what we [ musicians] feelu201d. He says, u201c Our team wants to do things beyond music; when words stop communicating, [ Sufi] music takes the experience further.